§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek powers to impose penalties on ground landlords who delay the sale of freeholds, under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act, without just cause.
§ Mr. Armstrong:We will consider this, but I should be glad if the hon. Member could send me details of any cases of unjustified delay of which he may be aware.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Government, in their review of the Leasehold Reform Act, will seek to replace the valuation basis of the freehold purchase price of houses within the leasehold enfranchisement, with a fixed scale of purchase factors related to the length of the remainder of a lease and the amount of annual ground rent, with a statutory maximum freehold purchase price of £400.
§ Mr. Armstrong:We are not convinced that such an amendment to the valuation basis is practicable or desirable.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ensure that any proposals brought forward to amend the Leasehold Reform Act will be applicable from the date that the Government intimated their intention to undertake the review, so as not to penalise the inclusion of leaseholders whose circumstances dictate that they go ahead with buying their freehold prior to his Government concluding their review and putting it into legislative form.
§ Mr. Armstrong:The proposals we have announced for amendment of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 would do away with the special valuation basis which applies to properties within certain rateable value bands and which was introduced in 1974. We do not contemplate the re-opening of cases in which the price has been determined before the coming into force of any amending legislation.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to amend the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 so that a leaseholder who withdraws an 254W initial request to purchase the freehold is not thereafter debarred from the right to purchase for a further period of five years.
§ Mr. Armstrong:A notice given under section 8 of the 1967 Act of desire to purchase the freehold is effectively a contract which is binding on the leaseholder and the landlord. The Act gives the leaseholder alone the right to withdraw from his contractual obligations, but if he does so he will then be unable to serve another such notice for five years. We do not think it would be reasonable to allow him to do so without an interval of some kind; and he may in any case apply for an extension lease at any time.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to amend the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 to clarify the right of a leaseholder to obtain on request a breakdown of the freehold price being demanded by the ground landlord.
§ Mr. Armstrong:We have considerable doubts about whether it would be advantageous to the leaseholder to grant such a right but we will bear the suggestion in mind.